First of all, I LOVE the new changes the anime went through!! Although the opening is a bit of a drag.... It doesn't get in the way... (that much)...

I LOVE the new animations! It is very refreshing but not so much that we don't know who the character is! Like France, he went through a HUGE transformation yet we still know it is France.

I also love that they are starting to add more characters like Romania, Mongolia, and General Winter! I also hope to see more countries (like coughcoughTAIWANcoughKOREAcoughcoughMEXICOcough) and I hope to see supporting countries get more screenshots (Seychelles, Turkey, Egypt, India, Hong Kong )!

The story is very exicting because it tells back stories of funny/scary characters such as Russia and Romano. I also hope to see China and how he came to be!!! It also adds to the enjoyment because if the W Academy setting! The characters in school uniforms look very good!

I also love the new episode that came out!(In America there is only six episodes TT^TT) It shows how Romano sees his life at Spain and how he really is a tsundere! ^ ^

I get LOTS of laughs and AWW moments from this and it is very fulfilling despite it being only 5 minutes! Its great to watch during lunch at school since it is so short. I can also watch many episodes and not get any leg cramps! YAAY!!!

Overall, I really enjoy the new season of Hetalia! It has great animation and a very humorous and cute story line and the length of the video is FANTASTIC There are new characters being added ( it doesn't seem rushed) almost every episode! I do love this anime and I hope there will be much, much more to come!read more

Compared to the other Hetalia series The Beautiful World is a step up, and you can see why they named it beautiful because now the animation actually is. (In comparison to the below-average art of the past Hetalia anime.)

Art: 9

The art has improved drastically to the point where some characters are hard to recognize because of how much better they look. The only problem with the art is the backgrounds which are much less detailed than the characters themselves but this is only noticeable sometimes and isn't overall a detrimental flaw.

Story: 7

As always the story in the Hetalia series isn't really that great or really there isn't a coherent plot. The anime centers around charming character interactions and that can be just as enjoyable as a good story sometimes. It is nice though how historical facts are added in, making it a bit of an unconscious learning experience. You are having so much fun while watching that you don't even realize it.

Sound: 8

I didn't really notice the background music at all and I probably wouldn't recognize a single tune if you played it separately from the anime. The voice actors in the sub and the dub are both excellent though. Some of the best. All of the countries seem to be perfectly cast.

Character: 10

The best part of the anime and really the point of watching it. All of the personified countries are funny, charming and interesting to watch. The character interactions make this series worth watching.

Enjoyment: 10

I loved Hetalia: The Beautiful World. It's really fun to watch and I hope that they make another series because I liked it so much.

Overall: 8

I would recommend this series to comedy lovers or history buffs with a good sense of humor. There are a few flaws but it is an overall fun anime to watch, especially when you are feeling down. It's sure to cheer you up. read more

The Beautiful World is the fifth season of Hetalia which was aired in 2013. Major changes in the artwork as well as the episode format were implemented along with the new ending song. It really lived to its title aesthetically, but does it have what it takes to entertain its fandom for the last four seasons?

Story: 6/10

The Beautiful world still does not have a major plot but it benefited from the changes in the episode format. A whole story (as against to spreading the strip for two or three episodes) is told every episode which gives it an anime with slice of life theme feel. It continues to include personified countries and their daily hijinks. While not bad, it is as if the historical parody which makes this series very hilarious was set aside for the character quirks. The Beautiful World focused more on ala K-On! moments with only male counterparts using cultural differences as jokes for most of the time.

The humor is an improvement from the World Series which honestly I find a chore if Prussia or Turkey is not there. Gakuen Hetalia, where the nations attend school and the main trio (Germany, Italy and Japan) has to make an article regarding the clubs is laugh out loud funny (a tsundere England never gets old). A close second is Hetalia of the Dead segment which contrasts country's horror movies mainly thanks to America's hero complex and India's tendency to drop unnecessary moments in the middle of a crucial event. Episodes including Netherlands and Belgium are funny enough to garner a laugh or two.

The Beautiful World also takes humor on the sidelines at times and pull heartstrings for once in while. The two France-centric episodes (the soldier asking who he really is and him meeting the reincarnation of Joan of Arc) are poignant with us viewers left asking if we are watching the same show. The next episode, we are shown a typical Hetalia episode.

All other mini-arcs are of the same Hetalia vein, homoeroticism filled, cultural jokes and relied more on character interaction than on the plot. It should be also noted that the homoeroticism in Hetalia is tolerable as it was toned down for most of the time except for that fanservice episode.

If I am asked, it comfortably sits in the middle of the first two seasons of the Axis Powers and the World Series.

Art: 8/10

The artwork dramatically changed for the better and the nations finally look different from each other. It gave a very sparkly feel that does not distract the viewing experience and the humor but it may add fuel to the fire of fujoshi lovers shipping nations 24/7. The animation also improved and I can certainly say that these two play as the strength of this series whenever the jokes miss.

Sound: 8/10

To say that the series improved sound-wise is an understatement. Mawaru Chikyuu Rondo is the catchiest Hetalia song ever with Italy prancing around as if he can dance.

Characters: 8/10 (a low 8 to be exact)

What made me nervous in this series is the continuous build up of characters which took others for granted. This hurt the World Twinkle which will have its separate review later. Sealand's appearance with all other micronations was appreciated but they were not given much time for the viewers to enjoy their presence. Other mishaps of the very limited episode count were the female characters of Hetalia.

I really find America annoying for the first four seasons yet the Christmas episode, Estonia's problem with hackers and Hetalia of the Dead benefited greatly due to his appearance and his usual antics. Greece, which I find a snore in the World Series became passable thanks to the ever awesome Turkey. England's tsundereness and his cynicism never get old and the main trio still retains their quirks and their usefulness in the show.

As much as I love the characters in Hetalia in general, the nonstop increase in the body count without giving them ample time hurts this series. The Nordics, which I personally find the coolest group in the show (sorry Prussia) was not given enough time and looked generic due to this circumstance. Australia and Romania have the worst case since they only appeared in a single segment. Even the main trio (Germany, Italy and Japan) was almost relegated to the sidelines. I can only hope that Hidekaz-sensei would at least focus on them at times for proper development.

Enjoyment:

Although I did not enjoy this as much as I did the first season, this is a commendable entry from Hetalia. Do I like it? Yes. The only major flaw I see in this series is it might not be able bring new fans but heck, who cares if this is good? read more

There are a lot of things that go on in this world and it can be complicating sometimes. There are some assholes in the world but there are several nations that have come together to co-operate as part of the United Nat….

Italy was once home of the strongest empire in the world. Now it has changed. Italy is now a cowardly pasta loving fool, and his friends also go through strange moments in World History. This is becoming redundant because it’s the same *BLEEP*ing ZHING I SAID ZHE LAST COUPLE TIMES I REVIEWED HETALIA!!! I was only kidding on the angry part, but you know the drill. It’s the same formula as the past seasons of this series. However, there are some additions such as Romania, Cyprus, India, New Zealand, and even Australia. There are some other additions in this season but listing them all would just drag on this review.

This is a Studio DEEN production and even though I haven’t seen a whole lot of Studio DEEN’s other productions to form an overall impression on the studio itself, I will instead focus on the anime I’m reviewing and comparing it to past seasons since I have reviewed them in the past. The Beautiful World is actually an interesting case as of recently. It is very likely you know what I am about to talk about, but I’ll say it anyway. When I first saw the promotional posters online, I was skeptical about this new season. I noticed it looked drastically different from everything before it. The logo, the character designs, everything got a makeover. I may piss off some Hetalia fans but… I LOVE THE CHANGES THAT WERE MADE. This season may look drastically different and even though it is stylized as shiny and sparkly. It is the most vibrant looking season that Studio DEEN has put into this show. Sorry Hetalia fans, but I thought the show looked cheap before The Beautiful World! But I gave Hetalia an exception for this. All the episodes were 5 minutes long and that is because Hetalia was an “Web Series”. I have seen flash animation web series before and they are roughly around 5 minutes long as well and the animations I’ve seen didn’t necessarily need to be of high quality. Hetalia isn’t any different. Now the overall design of The Beautiful World might not meet everyone’s liking but personally, after I saw this season, I actually liked it after all. It might not look perfect but that’s okay. For this being a web series, I am totally okay with it.

There is no need to go over Background Music, because there really isn’t much of a soundtrack for this anime. But I do want to go over the brief opening and the closing theme on this one. I do miss the “Also Sprach Zarathustra” sound-alike opening from the past seasons. The opening of The Beautiful World on the other hand… I’m not really a fan of it. It’s ok I suppose. Now for the closing theme of The Beautiful World “Turning Earth Round”...I found this closing theme boring. Okay, before any Hetalia fan gets their panties or tighty-whities in a bunch. Hear me out! Marukaite Chikyuu was a very catchy closing theme and I really liked it. Hata Futte Parade was a decent follow-up in World Series, “Turning Earth Round” (or “Marawu Chikyuu Rondo”) didn’t do much for me. The previous two closing themes were energetic, this one didn’t feel as energetic. Granted, Italy’s dancing is a little amusing to watch. If you liked it, that’s fine. The closing theme in The Beautiful World was not my cup of tea.

If you went through my previous reviews of Hetalia, what I am about to say regarding voice acting will not be that much of a surprise. The Japanese cast is fine as usual. Daisuke Namikawa is just as charming as Italy, Hiroki Yasumoto sounds just as usual as Germany, and Hiroki Takahashi sounds natural as Japan. The Japanese casting is nice for the most part. Now why do I not sound enthusiastic about the Subbed Version of Hetalia? It is because (really this is no surprise). I am extremely fond of the English Dub of Hetalia. The dub has the proper accents (even if it is intentionally stereotypical), and even though there are some liberties taken with the original dialogue compared to the dub, I still had a lot of fun with this anime thanks to the dub. My only problem with the dub is the adaptive script on a minor scene or two and this involves Funimation’s unnecessary subtitling changes, What do I mean? Well, there is one episode of Hetalia where in the Subtitled Version has Japan’s thought-quote bubble saying “Discussing Politics”, now in the Dubbed Version, it is subtitled as “Political BS”. Which makes it feel like an intentional mis-translation just to make a joke. If you don’t believe me, if you find the scene I’m referring to, change the subtitle options on the same scene when you find it. I know this may sound like I’m getting worked up over a minor issue but that really annoys me when cases like this happen. If anyone is translating from Kanji, I would expect a proper translation as close as possible and not an intentional mis-translation of something that isn’t what it really says. Funimation isn’t that bad of an anime distribution company but I cannot tolerate stupid shit like this. Putting that aside, I should actually talk about the dub itself. Patrick Seitz is still wunderbar as Germany. Christopher Bevins sounds stereotypically great as Japan. As for Todd Haberkorn...He takes a little getting used to this time around which is kind of weird considering he was terrific as Italy in the past seasons. He sounds unintentionally obnoxious. Again, this time around… It will take a little getting used to a different direction that Todd Haberkorn was given this time around. Now this may sound pointless for the review but since I call the shots on what I say in my reviews. I hope you don’t mind a little story I would like to share, I have met Todd Haberkorn at my local convention twice and over the years, I have really appreciated the time he takes on not only appearing at conventions, but the time and effort he puts into his work. Even though I’m not really a huge fan of Fairy Tail and Sgt. Frog, he sounds like he has a lot of fun in voicing Natsu and Keroro in their respective series. Hell, I hate Sword Art Online and he legitimately surprised me with his role as Oberon. My favorite role of his is actually Ling Yao from Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood with Death the Kid from Soul Eater as a runner-up. Even with those big roles of his, I think it’s fair to say that not every role of his is perfect and that’s a given to most voice actors and even actors in Hollywood and elsewhere. I know it sounds a little different in vocal direction but Todd really isn’t to blame on that. Now it’s kind of interesting considering that the Japanese voice cast feels the same with all the upgrades this show got whereas Christopher Bevins was tasked as ADR Director (In the past seasons, Scott Sager voice directed the Axis Powers dub, and World Series had Jamie Marchi, Mike McFarland and Scott Sager as ADR Directors) The point is... The dub is still enjoyable because the other voice actors are still fun to listen to. Eric Vale is still a riot as America, Jerry Jewell is still the good ol’ big boy Russia. Scott Freeman is still a fine chap as England and J. Michael Tatum… Need I say more? He’s still merveilleux as France (feel free to google “merveilleux” if you wish) The dub is still as enjoyable even though Italy can take a little getting used to, and honestly... Todd Haberkorn still did the voice like before so if anyone’s gonna complain, just be grateful that someone else didn’t voice Italy because it wouldn’t be the same if that were the case.

The characters/nations from past seasons are the same old characters you know and love. There are some other additions but I will let you see it for yourself. In all seriousness. Where’s Africa?

Now, you should know by now that Hetalia was never known for its plot because it is a historical satire and it’s a comedy series. If you have tried or seen past seasons of Hetalia, you know how this franchise operates. I must say that I had fun with this series from the first season onto this one and I still hold to my opinion that this is worth seeing in groups than watching it alone, although with the latter, you can still enjoy it the same way. If there is one thing I actually got annoyed with this series is how completely random it got at certain points. The Beautiful World is another random season but it plays out differently than the past seasons. My point is, I found it obnoxious when there were segments teased or had a portion showed but it gets sidelined by other segments (Save for Chibitalia and Nekotalia). It was difficult to keep track on what was going on. Sure, this fits the zaniness of the series but it is really distracting. Well… All of that is F***ING GONE WITH THE BEAUTIFUL WORLD. HALLEJUHAH. This season is easy for me to follow and even though they jump from one skit to the next, it plays out without having to jump back and forth. I wish the past seasons would have done this in the first place. Now, like the character design makeover. There was a special touch that does not return this time around. Remember when a skit ends and you get a brief translation of the show’s logo and hearing “Hetalia!” from a chibi version of whatever country is displayed? Well, that is changed with brief transitions of “Mochi versions” of the countries doing...whatever. It is not easy to adjust compared to past seasons but I do miss the quirky “Hetalia!” shoutouts. Even with all the skits in the show as a whole, this season is not perfect. There are some skits that are “just there” but that’s a given with Hetalia in the long run. The only major drawback I have with Hetalia is that The Beautiful World had the shortest run time compared to last seasons. Axis Powers stuck around for a year, so did World Series… But The Beautiful World was nearly half as long and only lasted 20 episodes and its run ended. But rest assured because Season 6 was announced, and I look forward to its arrival.

Hetalia: The Beautiful World is available by Funimation. I already mentioned supplemental material in a previous review of Hetalia but feel free to look the series up on Wikipedia for that information. I will at least state the previous entries. Hetalia: Axis Powers, Hetalia: Paint it White, and Hetalia: World Series are all available by Funimation.

Hetalia: The Beautiful World is… a vibrant season and the series’ game changer (At least, just the anime for all I know). It may be different than the past seasons but it still managed to be just as fun as before. In my personal experience, I had the most enjoyment out of this season for being straightforward with displaying its segments whereas the past seasons were sporadic while going back and forth with them. Because its a Web Series, I would find the animation superfluous but not exactly. It is an upgrade considering I myself thought the past seasons looked cheaply made even though I excused it due to Hetalia’s format as an anime. It still is nice to see the show change for what I think is for the better. For Hetalia standards. The additions are nice to see, and it was a fun ride. Sure, the closing theme is boring to me but that is minor compared to how much I enjoyed the fifth season of Hetalia.

With everything said and done, I give Hetalia: The Beautiful World an 8.1 out of 10. it is VERY GOOD!

Feel free to leave a comment and enjoy some Pasta, Bratwurst, Sushi, Hamburgers, Stroganoff, Chow Mein, Crepes, or Tea and Biscuits. Anything!read more

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